Junior Nichole Hardaway

The Hornets went 1-5 on the homestand comprising of a victory over San Jose Christian and losses to Saint Mary’s, Southern Utah, San Diego State, Portland State and Eastern Washington. The team has not played away from home since falling to Air Force in USAF Academy, Colo., on Saturday, Dec. 28. In addition, the Hornets have played just once on the road since Dec. 14.

Sacramento State is currently 0-5 away from home with losses to UCLA, Hawai’i, Pacific, UC Riverside and Air Force. The Hornets have lost 22-consecutive road games dating back to Jan. 20, 2001, when the team defeated UC Riverside, 89-83, in Riverside, Calif. During the steak, Sacramento State has been outscored by an average of 32.7 points per game.

Idaho State will enter Thursday’s contest with a 4-10 overall record and an 0-2 mark in the Big Sky. The Bengals lost on the road to both Montana and Montana State last week and haven’t won a game since defeating Southern Utah at home on Dec. 30. The team is 3-1 at home with its only loss coming to BYU on Jan. 7. The Hornets have never beaten Idaho State (0-12) since joining the Big Sky in 1996.

Weber State, which hosts Northern Arizona on Thursday, enters the week with a 9-6 overall record and a 1-1 mark in the Big Sky. The Wildcats, who won the conference championship last season, have lost three of their last four games after beginning the season 8-3. WSU is 4-1 at home this year with its only loss coming to Boise State on Nov. 25. The Hornets have beaten Weber State once since joining the Big Sky, a 66-44 win in Sacramento (1999-00 season).

Head Coach Carolyn Jenkins

Carolyn Jenkins is currently in her third season as head coach at Sacramento State. Jenkins, who became the fifth Sacramento State women’s basketball coach in the program’s 35-year history, came to the Hornets after serving four years (1996-2000) as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Michigan State. Prior to the that, the 32-year old Fresno Basketball Hall of Fame electee was an assistant at Stanford from 1991-95.

While at Michigan State, the Fresno, Calif., native and 1990 graduate of UC Berkeley spearheaded a recruiting class that was ranked among the top 25 in the country on three occasions (1996-97 through 1998-99). During her stint at Stanford, the team reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament all four years including two Final Four appearances (1991-92 and 1994-95) and a national championship in 1991-92.

The Hornets’ women’s basketball team currently has 10 players averaging a 3.0 gpa or better. Four members of last year’s team (Crystal Conley, Danielle Iceman, Lori Kerswell and Kristine Knowlton) were named to the Big Sky Conference all-academic team.

One Down, Two To Go

Entering the season, Sacramento State set its sights on erasing three dubious losing streaks. The Hornets took care of one of them, snapping a 44-game losing streak with a 77-55 victory over Notre Dame de Namur on Dec. 21. The streak was the second-longest in NCAA Div. I history as Long Island University holds the all-time mark with a 58-game losing streak that lasted from 1986-89. Prior to the win over Notre Dame de Namur, the team’s last victory came at home against Portland State (75-56) on Jan. 27, 2001.

The Hornets will now focus their attention on snapping a 22-game road losing streak and a 26-game losing streak against Big Sky Conference competition. The team’s last victory on the road came in an 89-83 win at UC Riverside on Jan. 20, 2001. Since that time, the closest the Hornets have come to victory on the road was a 64-60 setback at Montana State on Feb. 9, 2001. The win over Portland State on Jan. 27, 2001, was also the last time the Hornets defeated a Big Sky team.

Halftime Tells The Tale

Through 15 games this season, Sacramento State is 2-0 when leading at halftime and 0-13 when trailing at the break. The Hornets held halftime leads against both Notre Dame de Namur and San Jose Christian, and were victorious in both games.

In the team’s 13 losses, Sacramento State is being outscored by an average of 14.2 points in the first half. Besides the Hornets’ game against UC Riverside (where the team trailed, 27-26), Sacramento State has been outscored by at least five points in the first half of every loss. The team has been down double figures at half seven times, including a 53-17 halftime deficit against UCLA.

Overall this season, Sacramento State is being outscored by an average of 8.9 points in the first half and 6.1 in the second half. Compared to last year, the Hornets were outscored by 18.4 points in the first stanza and 13.1 points in the second.

Shifting Starting Lineups

Due to various injuries and factors that have caused Hornet players to miss a combined 47 games this season, head coach Carolyn Jenkins has been forced to use nine different starting lineups and has not gone with the same starting lineup more than four times.

The only constant in the starting five has been junior guard Diane Peterson, who is the only Hornet to start all 15 games this season. Other than Peterson, only junior Sydney Gatson (11) and freshman Sarah Craig (10) have started at least 10 games.

Freshman power forward Katelyn Ciampi started the first seven games of the season before suffering a stress fracture that has kept her out of action for the past eight contests. Junior forward Alyson Thurman, who was the Hornets’ top rebounder and third-leading scorer last year, will miss the 2002-03 season with a back injury. The injury is so severe, doctors still aren’t sure if she will be able to play basketball again.

Junior power forward/center Nichole Hardaway, who sat out nearly two years because of academic problems, missed the first nine games of the season until being reinstated prior to the game against Saint Mary’s. In six games, Hardaway has led the team in rebounding four times and is averaging 8.0 points and 9.0 rebounds. Junior guard Dolores Olivarez, who redshirted last season because of an ACL injury, has sat out four games this year with a sprained foot.

Junior guard Sydney Gatson missed the first three games of the year with a back injury and freshman guard Sarah Craig sat out two games because of religious convictions. Freshman guard Tess Thompson suffered an ACL injury in practice two weeks ago and will miss the rest of the season while freshman guard Kate Conarroe has missed the past two games due to illness.

Double-Digit Craig

Freshman Sarah Craig, who along with freshman Megan Moon became the first two Canadians to appear in a Sacramento State uniform since the program joined the Div. I ranks for the 1991-92 season, has started her intercollegiate career in impressive fashion.

Among team leaders, the Calgary, Alberta, native is currently first in scoring (13.8 points per game), field-goal percentage (.431), minutes (34.9 per game), offensive rebounds (38 total, 2.9 per game) and steals (26, 2.0 per game), and second in rebounding (6.0 per game). Craig has scored in double figures in all but one game she has appeared, including a season-high 20 against both Hawai’i and Air Force. She has scored 179 points this season, 54 points more than the Hornets’ second-leading scorer (Diane Peterson with 125), despite missing two games earlier in the year because of religious convictions (Sunday games against UCLA and Nevada).

Craig scored seven points against Saint Mary’s, marking the only game she has finished in single digits. She has led the team in scoring six times and rebounding four times. Among Big Sky Conference leaders, Craig currently ranks sixth in steals, seventh in scoring and eighth in rebounding. Craig and Eastern Washington’s Kathleen Nygaard are the only two players in the Big Sky to rank among the top 10 in steals, points and rebounds.

Hardaway Back After Two-Year Hiatus

After a two-year hiatus away from basketball, junior Nichole Hardaway returned in fine fashion against Saint Mary’s on Jan. 2. Hardaway, who had been ineligible since Jan. 6, 2001, returned to action after her fall grades were released. Against Saint Mary’s, Hardaway posted a double-double, tallying 11 points and a team-leading 13 rebounds. She followed up that effort against Southern Utah with four points and a team-best 12 rebounds.

Hardaway posted her second double-double of the season against San Diego State with a career-high 15 points to go along with 13 rebounds. This past Saturday against Eastern Washington, Hardaway posted her fourth double-figure rebounding game with 11 against the Eagles. Prior to Hardaway’s return, the Hornets were averaging 38.2 rebounds per game and were being outrebounded by an average of 6.8 per game. Since her return, Sacramento State is averaging 41.8 rebounds per contest and is being outrebounded by just 1.7 boards per game.

The Berkeley, Calif., native played all 26 games, including 18 starts, as a freshman during the 1999-00 season. She appeared in 10 games (seven starts) as a sophomore during the 2000-01 campaign until being deemed ineligible midway through the season. Hardaway combined to average 5.7 points and a 6.3 rebounds per game over a season and a half. She was the team’s leading rebounder and ranked eighth in the Big Sky Conference as a freshman with 6.7 rebounds per game.

Team/Player Notes

Junior guard Diane Peterson has knocked down at least one three-pointer in all but one game, including a career-high five against San Jose Christian. She is currently fourth in the Big Sky averaging 2.0 per game...Peterson and freshman center Kristine Knowlton are the only two Hornets to appear in all 15 games. Knowlton is currently second in the Big Sky with 1.47 blocked shots per game...junior guard Sydney Gatson, who has scored in double figures five out of the last eight games, is second on the team and 16th in the Big Sky averaging 9.8 points per game.